Project description:Despite the fact that taro, colocasia esculenta, is an important staple food for millions of people around the world, its genome and transcriptome sequence has not yet been investigated. The objective of this study was to generate transcriptome sequence information from taro cultivars Niue, Palau 10, and Sam-07. Niue and Sam-07 are highly susceptible to the taro leaf blight (TLB) disease caused by Phytophthora colocasiae, to which Palau 10 is resistant. The analysis of the taro transcriptome will facilitate gene discovery, including genes that are responsible for TLB-resistance. Moreover, microsatellites (SSRs) developped from these data will be useful for marker-assisted breeding of improved taro cultivars, QTL mapping, and characterization of the genetic diversity in taro.
Project description:Elucidating the origin of Taimo, a cultivar of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) grown in the Ryukyu archipelago, through chloroplast genome analysis
Project description:The phasing out of methyl bromide as a fumigant, resistance problems with phosphine and other fumigants in stored product beetles, and serious concern with human health and environmental safety have triggered the search for alternative biofumigants of plant origin. Despite the identification of a large number of plants that show insecticidal activity, and the diversity of natural products with inherent eco-friendly nature, newer biofumigants of plant origin have eluded discovery. Using a bioassay driven protocol, we have now isolated a bioactive molecule from the root stock of Colocasia esculenta (L.) and characterized it as 2, 3-dimethylmaleic anhydride (3, 4-dimethyl-2, 5-furandione) based on various physico-chemical and spectroscopic techniques (IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR and Mass). The molecule proved to be an efficient biofumigant which is highly toxic to insect pests for stored grains even at very low concentration, but has no adverse effect on seed germination. We finally address the potential for this molecule to become a, effective biofumigant.
